Hitherto, during preparation of an excellent fragrance composition by blending aroma substances, various fixatives or fragrance note-improving agents which adjust the fragrance properties and fixative property of aroma substances have been incorporated into a fragrance for the purpose of maintaining the desired aroma. As such fixatives or fragrance note-improving agents, there have been specifically proposed and employed dipropylene glycol, triethyl citrate, benzyl benzoate, benzyl salicylate, diethyl phthalate, isopropyl myristate, and the like. Of these, it has been reported that benzyl salicylate induces delayed contact dermatitis (“Hifu (Skin)”, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 421–441), and hence the compound is not preferable in view of safety. Moreover, diethyl phthalate is not preferable because its use is voluntarily restrained as an endocrine disturbing chemical. Some other fixatives exhibit only a low effect of imparting a long-lasting property of fragrance and the fragrance of the fixatives themselves sometimes modulates the fragrance note of a fragrance composition in an undesirable direction, so that it has been desired to develop an odorless fragrance note-improving agent which can impart an excellent fragrance-lasting property which also does not modulate the fragrance note of a fragrance composition.
Under such circumstances, various fixatives and fragrance note-improving agents have been proposed in order to satisfy such demands. For example, there have been proposed p-menthane-3,8-diol in JP-A-4-337395, 2-hydroxymethyl-cycloalkanol derivatives in JP-A-5-295388, specific biphenyl-compounds in JP-A-7-62383, and so forth, as fixatives. However, these compounds have hardly satisfied the requirements of versatility, fixative effect and the like as fixatives.
In addition, with regard to the above fixatives and fragrance note-improving agents, the effects thereof as blended fragrances by sensory evaluation on a blotter are described, but the effects in products provided with the blended fragrances are not described. Thus, it has been desired to develop a blended fragrance and a fragrance note-improving agent which provides an excellent fragrance note-improving effect in final products.